As the company has closed locations in recent years, and rebranding rumors have been quashed, new restaurant openings have become increasingly rare.
Author’s Note
This article is based on corporate postings and accredited media reports. Linked information within this article is attributed to the following outlets: Wikipedia.org, ScrapeHero.com, APNews.com, EatThis.com, and MyCentralJersey.com.
Introduction
Wikipedia features a comprehensive and well-attributed overview of the Hooters restaurant entity: Hooters is the registered trademark used by two American restaurant chains: Hooters, Inc., based in Clearwater, Florida, and Hooters of America, Inc. based in Atlanta, Georgia, and owned by the private investment firm Nord Bay Capital (with TriArtisan Capital Advisor, as its advisor).
The Wikipedia page goes on to distinguish the chains: The Clearwater-based company retained control over restaurants in the Tampa Bay Area, Chicago metropolitan area, and one in Manhattan, while all other locations were under the aegis of Hooters of America, which sold franchising rights to the rest of the United States and international locations.
The entity’s image is largely defined by its party vibe and wait staff of revealingly-attired female employees known as “Hooters Girls,” and its menu is largely comprised of burgers, steaks, seafood, and alcohol.
Per ScrapeHero.com: There are 308 Hooters stores in the United States as of March 06, 2023. The state with the most number of Hooters locations in the U.S. is Texas, with 55 stores, which is about 18% of all Hooters stores in the U.S.
Now comes word that a new Hooters location is set to open in New Jersey, despite recent controversies including false rumors regarding the company’s alleged “rebranding.”
Let us explore further.
Hooters, 2023
APNews.com’s December 29, 2022 report, “Hooters Says it is Not Closing For a Millennial-Friendly Rebrand,” dispelled recent rumors to the contrary: A spokesperson for the restaurant chain told The Associated Press that this claim has “no validity” and that its concept “is here to stay.” The posts are misrepresenting a 2017 article that discussed some U.S. locations closing between 2012 and 2016, as well as changes the company made to its menu and decor more than a decade ago and a spin-off concept that opened in 2017.
The company itself was founded in 1983, and also operates locations overseas.
Some domestic closures, however, have occurred more recently than the APNews.com excerpt implies, as elucidated in an EatThis.com report: From a peak of around 430 units less than a decade back, the chain has been steadily shrinking of late. According to the data company Smart Scrapers, there were 311 Hooters restaurants in America in the fall of 2022, but per data from ScrapeHero, by the beginning of 2023, that figure had fallen further to just 308 Hooters restaurants in America.
Regardless, the aforementioned New Jersey location is forthcoming, per MyCentralJersey.com: Hooters, which dispelled internet rumors late last year that it was closing or rebranding, has been renovating the former Mangia Bene restaurant at the Ramada Inn on northbound Route 202-31 across the highway from Jake's, which also closed during the pandemic.
Though no date of open has yet been finalized, the new entity’s location will be 250 Route 202-31, Raritan Township, between Hart Boulevard and Commerce Street in the Flemington area.
Conclusion
This is a developing story. In the event of pertinent updates to this matter, inclusive of progress and official announcements of milestone dates, I will share them here on NewsBreak.
Thank you for reading.
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